Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and two of its former employees, accusing them of misappropriating trade secrets to boost OpenAI's foray into consumer hardware. The complaint, filed in a federal court in California, alleges that the former employees stole confidential hardware-related information before joining OpenAI.

The defendants include a former senior system electrical engineer and a former vice president of product design for iPhone and Apple Watch, as well as OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC, and io Products. Apple claims that one defendant failed to return a company-issued laptop and later exploited an authentication bug to access Apple's internal network and download dozens of confidential files.

The other defendant allegedly emailed himself information about Apple suppliers and internal industry summaries before leaving the company. Apple's 41-page complaint states: "At every level, from members of its Technical Staff to its Chief Hardware Officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple's trade secrets and confidential information."

The lawsuit marks a sharp escalation in tensions between the two tech giants, which had previously cooperated, with Apple allowing users to access ChatGPT results through Siri. Last year, OpenAI acquired io Products, a hardware startup founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive, as it aims to move beyond software into consumer hardware.

OpenAI has not specified what device it is building, describing it only as an effort to create a new way of interacting with AI that goes beyond "traditional products and interfaces." The case highlights growing competition in the AI hardware space.

Source: www.dw.com